Long-lost British brands are found by litter pickers: SEVENTY-year-old bottle of Doby washing up liquid and FIFTY year-old packet of pickled onion Tudor Crisps are found during clean-ups
- Sharon Longhurst and husband Andy found pickled onion Tudor Crisps last week
- The bag, which has not faded or decomposed, is thought to be from 1973
- And environmentalist Oly Rush, 37, found a bottle of Doby near Swanage, Dorset
A 50-year-old packet of crisps and a 70-year-old bottle of Doby washing up liquid have been found on separate local clean ups.
Sharon Longhurst, 45, and husband Andy, 55, found the packet of pickled onion Tudor Crisps at Dunnikier Park, Kirkcaldy last week.
The couple, from Burntisland Fife, took home the packet, which has not faded or decomposed, and washed the dirt off to reveal its price tag of just 2.5p along with a competition to win a free football badge, with a closing date of 1973.
Mrs Longhurst, a mother of three, said she couldn’t believe it had been hidden in the park for 50 years with no one noticing it.
The couple’s discovery came as environmentalist Oly Rush, 37, found a bottle of Doby, which is thought to date from the mid-1950s, among seaweed at Chapman’s Pool near Swanage, Dorset.
The 1.5 pint moulded container, made by Thawpit Ltd of Manchester, still has a legible ‘By Royal Appointment’ message on it.
Sharon and Andy Longhurst were stunned to discover a packet of crisps dating back nearly 50 years in perfect condition in Dunnikier Park, Kirkcaldy
The couple, from Burntisland Fife, took home the packet, which has not faded or decomposed, and washed the dirt off to reveal its price tag of just 2.5p along with a competition to win a free football badge, with a closing date of 1973
The couple’s discovery came as environmentalist Oly Rush, 37, found a bottle of Doby, which is thought to date from the mid-1950s, among seaweed at Chapman’s Pool near Swanage, Dorset
Mr Rush, a plasterer from Poole, said it is the oldest piece of plastic packaging he has found washed up and he does not know of older examples.
He said: ‘This just goes to show how long plastics last. They are awful for the environment and while I’ve pulled tons of the stuff from local beaches, this is the oldest thing I’ve ever found.
‘Whether it has been in the water all the time or has come out of a cliff I’m not sure, but either way it wasn’t doing any good. If we can all do a little bit to cut down on plastic waste then slowly the environment will improve and it’ll be better for us all and for wildlife.’
Mr Rush, a plasterer from Poole, said it is the oldest piece of plastic packaging he has found washed up and he does not know of older examples
Mr Rush swam around the Isle of Wight in a record breaking 15 hours last year to raise £12,000 for environmental charities.
He is swimming around Grand Cayman in May, a 65-mile route he hopes to complete in 30 hours, to raise awareness of plastic pollution.
Mrs Longhurst and her bus driver husband, who found the crisps, are considering framing the packet – which is the oldest thing they have found litter picking.
Mrs Longhurst, from Burntisland Fife, said: ‘We went over to Dunnikier Park where we regularly litter pick and we were just going to clean up a well-known drinking den.
‘When we looked to the edge of the path and saw the ground where there were lots of packets sticking up. You could see the little corners of plastic so we thought we should tidy it up.
‘We started pulling the corners and the packets were coming out and we couldn’t believe what we were seeing. It started off with a packet from 2005, then one from 2000, then 1995, 1990 – it was like a game of Top Trumps.
‘We kept pulling them out and we found a Littlewoods bag as well and a packet from 1989. Then my husband Andy said ”oh my goodness look at this one” and when we rubbed away the dirt, we saw the 2.5p on the front of the bag of pickled onion Tudor Crisps.
‘We kept trying to find the date and we were rubbing the dirt off the back of it. It was unbelievable. We couldn’t believe it when we saw the date and how intact the packet was. It hasn’t faded and hasn’t decomposed at all, which is pretty scary in a way.
‘Someone in the 1970s has eaten a packet of crisps and here is the packet today in Dunnikier Park. The packet is older than me.’
Tudor Crisps was founded in Sunderland in 1947 and moved to Newcastle in 1961 when the brand was acquired by Smiths Crisps.
The brand was known for its unusual choice of flavours at the time, including tomato ketchup, hot dog and mustard, and pickled onion.
During the 1970s sales of Tudor crisps soared thanks to the company’s advertising campaign.
It featured a paper boy, bribed with a ‘canny bag of Tudor’ to deliver papers to a Gateshead tower block.
The brand was phased out in 2003.
Mrs Longhurst posted pictures of the crisps on Facebook after finding them last week and said the it has sparked childhood memories.
She said: ‘Since we posted the pictures people have said ‘they were my favourite at school and I used to have them every day’.
‘Or that ”they were their favourite crisps from childhood”, so it has brought back a lot of memories for a lot of people, which is really nice.
‘It is the oldest thing our group has found so far. It’s crazy to think how many people have walked past that crisp packet in the last 50 years.
‘Goodness knows what else is there, but that one was a little gem.’
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